Product Details

• Actors: Christian Slater, Marisa Tomei, Rosie Perez, Kyle Secor, Willie Garson
• Directors: Tony Bill
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: February 15, 1994
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304411480
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,419 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If you're a die-hard romantic with a soft spot for three-hanky weepers, this well-acted love story from 1993 will be just what the doctor ordered. It's about a waitress named Caroline (Marisa Tomei) who works the graveyard shift in a Minneapolis diner, where the silent, introverted Adam (Christian Slater) works as a dishwasher and janitor. Only Caroline manages to bring the solitary Adam out of his shell, and when he rescues her from an assault, their tentative friendship slowly blossoms into mutual trust and love. Adam has a weak heart and desperately needs a heart transplant, but a story told to him by orphanage nuns--that he was raised in the jungle with the powerful heart of a baboon--makes him feel invincible. This sets the stage for a tender and tragic love story that director Tony Bill handles as a delicate balance of blue-collar reality and misty-eyed fairy tale, and the quiet chemistry between Tomei and Slater makes it work. If you don't get a little choked up by the movie's heartfelt conclusion, you just might need a heart transplant yourself. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker

A young man with a weak heart (Christian Slater), who works in a crummy diner, gets noticed by a lonely waitress (Marisa Tomei). You can guess the rest, but that doesn't detract from the mild, inoffensive pleasure of Tony Bill's film. The love story takes second place to the casual comedy that surrounds it-bored girls sitting round talking about boys. One of them is played by Rosie Perez, who's a natural at this kind of thing; but even her perkiness is put in the shade by Tomei, who brings startling high spirits to a dullish role. She snatches moments of happiness out of the air and shares them out to anyone who's around. The title, by the way, refers to some weird story about the hero's past-he thinks his heart came from a monkey-but the film skids around this in confusion. On the other hand, he does look a bit of an ape; O.K., love is love, but you still wonder what Tomei is doing with him. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ROMANTIC...POIGNANT...HEARTBREAKING..., March 27, 2003

By	Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This film is an unlikely romance that works on many levels. Deftly directed by Tony Bill who shows a penchant for handling delicate sentiments as if they were gossamer threads, this film is truly one of the most romantic that I have seen. That this is so, despite the fact that many of the most romantic moments take place in a downtown Minneapolis diner, a dingy basement apartment, the front porch of a house in a blue collar, working class neighborhood, or in an old dilapidated clunker of a car, is a testament to the ability of the director.

Marisa Tomei is luminous as Caroline, the Minneapolis waitress with self-esteem problems who looks for love in all the wrong places, before finding it right where she works. She imbues Caroline with just the right measure of street smarts, working class edge, and little girl vulnerability. She is a needy, though nice, young woman who desperately wants to love and be loved. Unfortunately, the guys she meets tend to treat her as a one night stand. Sensitive and romantic Adam, the reticent and quirky busboy who works the night shift with Caroline, is just what the doctor ordered.

As Adam, Caroline's veritable knight in shining armor, Christian Slater gives his best performance ever. An orphan with a disability that he cloaks with an intriguing story, Adam is a true romantic hero. His quiet sincerity, delicate sensibilities, and apparent contentment in worshipping from afar touch Caroline, tugging at her heart strings. You see, he treats her as if she were a princess rather than as a strumpet. Christian Slater's sensitive and moving performance in a difficult role strikes just the right note. I would bet that nearly every woman who watches this film succumbs to his charms and finds herself half falling in love with him.

The film seems to tell the viewer that once one has love in one's grasp, hold it tightly, as one never knows what the fates may have in store. Though the ending may be somewhat predictable, it will not stop the viewer from needing a hanky. This is a wonderful film that will greatly appeal to those viewers with a romantic streak in their hearts. Beautifully directed and with superlative performances by Marissa Tomei and Christian Slater, it is a film that merits being in one's personal collection.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Titanic? Please! This is a real love story., January 24, 1999

By A Customer

I've just finished reviewing Titanic and decided to check out what people said about a real romance. I was surprised that I'm the first one to have anything to say about it. I had always pictured Slater as a bad-boy especially considering his most recent run-ins with the law. In an interview he said that his role in this film was the one he missed the most. By watching this film one sees why. Slater gives a surprising and welcoming performance as a shy busboy secretly in love with an unlucky waitress. Tomei and Slater have wonderful chemistry on-screen and it is just beautiful to see the two of them fall in love. I realized why Tomei won an Oscar the previous year. There is nothing new in this film that will attract the average romantic. Rather, the way the story is exected is what draws an audience in. Now if only a certain boat movie had followed this example before creating an expensive mess...

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Little Love Story, January 27, 2000

By	frisky2000 "frisky2000" (smallville) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Sure we've seen Christian Slater in the rough movies, sure Marisa Tomei has been the pseudo-sophisticated, gum cracking chick in My Cousin Vinny; and of course Rosie Perez bit off juicier movie roles in White Men Can't Jump and Fearless. But here each actor is completely out of character [but in a great departure from their usual parts] in their portrayals of small town young people struggling to make a living (and an impact somehow in their own lives). There's one disturbing scene of abuse, but otherwise Untamed Heart is a sensitive, gentle love story with genuine performances by talented actors. It will touch you and make you both laugh and cry.